


Little Slices of Life

by cyberstevie, shoujokakumei



Series: That Soft and Fluffy Au Where Wednesday and Lydia are Girlfrienss [1]
Category: Beetlejuice - Perfect/Brown & King
Genre: Best Friends, Discussion of Canon Child Abuse, Discussion of canon drug use, Discussion of canon suicide attempt, Domesticity, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, I can't think of anything right now, Swearing, Toothache Inducing Fluff, Trans Characters, beetlebabes dni, tags to be added as they apply, uhhhhh, what else
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-21 12:30:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21299492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyberstevie/pseuds/cyberstevie, https://archiveofourown.org/users/shoujokakumei/pseuds/shoujokakumei
Summary: Little slices of life from in between chapters.
Relationships: Adam Maitland/Barbara Maitland, Wednesday Addams/Lydia Deetz
Series: That Soft and Fluffy Au Where Wednesday and Lydia are Girlfrienss [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1535480
Comments: 46
Kudos: 147





	1. You know you don't actually get sick from being cold right?

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter happens the day after chapter 1 of My Black Heart

"Morning Lydia," Barbara murmured from on top of the bookshelf. There were some benefits to being dead, like being able to finally dust the high places. "Adam's making pancakes. "

"Mhm," Lydia groaned, "Dad and Delia?"

" Oh honey, you sound terrible," Barbara turned too look at her, cocking her head, "you feeling ok? They're at the open house already."

Lydia hopped the bannister, landing soundly, then coughing. "I'm coming down with something. Couldn't even get the days off school, it sucks."

"Aw, poor thing. That's why you shouldn't be running around for hours in the negatives."

Lydia, who had been still half asleep, suddenly shot up, wide awake. "That actually happened?"

Barbara sighed. "Yes."

"Where is he?"

"In the basement with, uh, Sandy."

"Oh awesome just call me up when Adam's-"

"The three people to a room applies to you too, you can call him up here." Lydia slumped her shoulders, groaning and opening the door to the basement.

"Hey Be-" she started to yell, but broke into coughing. Barbara floated down from the top of the bookshelf, putting a hand on her back.

"You want some water?" Lydia shook her head no, giving thumbs up and swallowing thickly. Behind them, Beetlejuice stuck his head up through the floor, bright green, unlike yesterday.

"Scarecrow, Babs, what's up?" Lydia went over to him, pulling him up through the floor. Once his feet were on the ground he grabbed her, tossing her up in the air, much to Lydia's delight and Barbara's horror. He caught her and let her down.

"You two are going to kill me again, doing that, christ," Barbara sighed as they both stage bowed to her, smiling widely.

"Aw, you know I wouldn't do that on purpose," Lydia shot Beetlejuice a pointed look, and elbowed him.

"Hey, ow, not gonna pull that again, pinkie swear. What's with the impression anyway?"

"I really sound that bad?"

"Yeah, I gargled glass for a full year to get to sounding like this."

Barbara and Lydia both looked at him, slack jawed. "You what?"

"I'm impulsive and wanted to actually sound demonic, what can I say? Helped me scare those serfs so bad one actually had a heart attack. Though thinking about it that might've been the blood…" he trailed off. "Oh yeah, but anyway cut it off, it's 100% trademarked mine."

Lydia opened her mouth to say say something snappy back, but sneezed instead, folding over into herself. Barbara gave her a sympathetic look. "She can't help it, she's sick."

"Light of my afterlife, can you get Lydia, breakfast is- oh, nevermind, looks like she's already up," Adam started off singsong, peeking through the door.

"Sorry Adam, I'm gonna skip, swallowing sounds terrible right now," Lydia sniffed, standing back up straight.

"You poor thing, do you want a smoothie instead?" She nodded, and Adam went back into the kitchen.

"Well, we're very proud of you for not taking that opportunity to hit on him," Barbara said. Beetlejuice looked at her, head cocked, before it clicked and he swore quickly under his breath. Lydia laughed.

"Anyway, why are you purple again?"

"Can we not comment on my color changing bullshit-"

"Language!"

"Barbara, the author's done a count of who swears how much, you have no right to talk on language when you won second place."

"What?" Lydia and Barbara asked at the same time, looking from the demon to each other.

"Nothing. Anyway kiddo what's your plan?"

Lydia rubbed her hands together. "I was thinking piz-"

"No! You two are not doing that, we're still banned from every delivery place and mail service in a thirty mile radius, we're not letting you two make it 40." Barbara crossed her arms. They both groaned.

  
  


"How's round 168 of The Exorcist sound then?" Lydia said, flipping through a pack of DVDs. "That, or im gonna make you watch The Last Unicorn."

"What is that, a baby movie?"

"Well, I'd say it's a triple threat," Lydia grinned toothily, and Adam and Barbara groaned.

"I don't get it?"

"You'll see later, we'll go with The Exorcist first."

Lydia slid the disk in and plopped down on the couch, curling up into a blanket. Beetlejuice opted to sit on the floor, arms resting on the free side. Adam handed Lydia her smoothie, and Barbara started unwrapping a roll of pennies at the table, counting out half for herself. Adam took a seat and shuffled the cards. After a while of heckling the movie, Lydia drifted off on top of Beetlejuice's arm.

He gently lifted Lydia's head off it, putting a pillow in its place and taking off his suit jacket and draping it over her on top of the blanket. He floated over to Barbara and Adam's texas hold'em game at the table.

"Can we talk? The in the kitchen?" He whispered, "also, Adam you lost this round, deal out."

"Hey!" Baraba hissed. Adam set down his cards. They both did a double take upon seeing him without the jacket, and cringed a little once they saw it was now being used as a blanket, what with how disgusting it was.

"Is it that important?" Adam asked. Beetlejuice nodded. The Maitlands sighed, standing up and following him. The door creaked closed behind them.

"Why isn't anyone freaking out?!" He nearly yelled, as soon as the latch clicked. "I thought we all agreed we didn't want her"- he gestured at himself and them, "like this- dead - and now she's sick and you're playing poker?!"

Adam and Barbara looked to each other, and then Beetlejuice, and back. Barbara started. "What do you mean? She's not going to die?"

"Yes she is!! She's-"

"Beetlejuice, she has a cold," Adam said, looking at him over his glasses, "She just needs rest and orange juice, have you never-"

"When breathers get sick they die, what is wrong with you two!?" His hair was going red at the tips again. "She-did you see her? She can barely breathe and we didn't even get to the head spinning scene before she passed out!! That's her favorite part!"

"Beetlejuice!" Barbara yelled back, sternly. "She's not going to die! She's a kid in school who spent hours running around in the negatives, of course she's going to get sick? What's wrong with us? What's wrong with you?"

"But- 1912- just-"

"Was 100 years ago," Adam started, putting a hand on his shoulder and speaking calmly and slowly, "and she got vaccinated back in September. She has a cold, she can breathe mostly fine, she just needs some rest. This is perfectly normal."

"But-" he stuttered, looking them over. They looked genuinely concerned, eyebrows knitted together, occasionally looking back and forth from each other to him. "I- are you sure? I have leeches somewhere I'm sure, we can-" he reached into one of his pants pockets.

That made them both jump. "No leeches!" They exclaimed in unison. 

"She just needs to have a slow couple of days," Adam said as he put the jar he was pulling out back. "Just, y'know, do what you've been doing. Watch some movies with her. When she wakes up we can deal you two in?"

"Cleaning yourself up would probably help," Barbara chimed in. Adam nodded. "Besides, how do you know what part of The Exorcist is her favorite anyway?"

"Do you two think I made her stay awake for three days straight? I know how squishy breathers are, when she started slowing down I made her put on a talkie until she fell asleep. And nope, as much as I would loooovvveee to get naked with you two I'm not in the mood to fix that hole in my binder." 

"Talkie?"

"Binder?"

"Yeah, a movie with sound? And you can't exactly get surgery when you're dead, and shapeshifting only lasts so long for the energy you need."

They looked back and forth between each other in confusion. It clicked for Adam first.

"Oh you're-"

"Trans yes thank you we do not need to go any further with this conversation, i-"

"Hey, me too," Lydia said, "The whole being trans thing, I mean." The three adults turned to look at her standing in the doorway, holding the jacket at arm's length. "Anyway, Beej, I told you not to do that, it's so gross."

"Wait you're-" Beetlejuice didn't finish the sentence, instead grabbing back his jacket and ruffling her hair. "I knew there was a reason we're bffffffs! Even if you stabbed me!"

She grabbed his arm, smiling, "and I'll do it again if you keep trying to be a sap with your crusty jacket." He put said crusty jacket back on, smoothing it out. He was mostly greenish again, if it was a muddy sort of color.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Well you're - how old are you?"

"1007"

"You're a 1007 year old demon and I've been on puberty blockers since I was 11, I'm not gonna out myself if I don't know how your gonna react."

"And no way in hell would we tell," Barbara added.

"Good reasons," Beetlejuice nodded.

"Anyway, I missed the best part, so let's just switch movies. I haven't watched The Last Unicorn since dead-mom was in the hospital, it was her favorite."

"That explains so much," Barbara whispered to Adam.

  
  
  
  
  
  


"Holy grandma tits on that bird!"


	2. In Which A Demon is Made to Shower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lydia and the Maitlands use that one wierdly warm day in February to make the resident demon take a shower. It goes about as expected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This happens a week or so before Chapter 2 of My Black Heart

"So kid, what'd you want to show me anyway?" Beetlejuice asked, closing the front door behind him.

"ADAM! BARBARA! NOW!"

Suddenly he was beset upon. They grabbed an arm each and were they? They were! They were attempting to possess him. Cute!

Or at least, for the .5 seconds before he was getting sprayed with a stream of cold water. Not that he could really feel the temperature, just the sensation of the water itself. It took a couple of seconds the break out from the shock. By the time he broke the two ghosts' hold on him he was already thoroughly soaked and Lydia was lowering the hose. He could feel himself losing control, his fangs biting through his lips. His hair must be bright red by now.

"Hey, at least you're somewhat clean now!" Lydia laughed. Adam and Barbara were backing away from him. He shook like a dog, soaking all three, before lighting himself on fire to get the rest of the water off. He marched up to her, grabbing the kinked up hose out of her hand. She was still smiling widely.

  
  


"What. The. Fuck." Was all he could manage to growl out. His hair was flopping in his face, nearly glowing neon.

"You kept putting off taking a shower, so we gave you one."

He looked from her, to the hose in his hand to the door. Growling, he ripped up his skull by his hair, showing his brain. Lydia turned and gagged, screeching and he dropped the hose, letting it throw itself around with the pressure. He stormed back to the porch, putting his skull back in place. Adam started to say something to him, but he phased through the floor into the basement before he could hear it.

  
  


It was quite some time before there was a knock on the basement door. 

"Beej? I brought you some gel, if you want it." Lydia yelled through the door.

"It's a tits out zone, come in at your own risk," Beetlejuice replied through a mouthful of needles. Then "I'm wearing a shirt-shirt, I mean."

"Oh good," the door opened, and Lydia nearly jumped at the six pairs of glowing eyed immediately focusing on her. She turned on the red lights and the six eyes turned into a sandworm with it's first mouth open and a demon. She pet Sandy's larger head. "You sew?"

"You sew?" He mocked, "of course I sew-damnit-" he lifted the binder which was sewn to his hand in places-"banished for 300 years thinks I can't sew jesus christ." He used his teeth to rip through the stitching. Lydia put the hair gel at his feet and sat a ways away from him on one of Sandy's coils, gently petting her.

After a while, she spoke again. "Hey, uh, I'm sorry for the 'shower' it was my idea, don't hold it over Adam and Barb."

"Figures."

"What?"

"In case you haven't noticed kid, you're kind of a bitch." 

"Hey!"

"I'm calling it like it-fuck-is," he pulled the needle back, holding up the binder stretched out, "hold this for me, I won't stab you."

She obeyed, and he set back to work darning it. "I don't think I'm  _ that _ mean."

"You made your dad go to hell just so he'd say your mom's name."

"I- he didn't have to follow me."

"Whatever, we've talked through everyone's side of the story enough times. Flip it." She flipped it and he re-threaded the needle.

After a while, she spoke again. "Doesn't it hurt, wearing that all the time?"

"Yup."

"...I'm sorry for killing you."

"You say that at least once a week."

"Because I am! I was scared and I had every right to be but-"

"I was going to kill your family, and I did kill that Kevin guy. I'm not sorry about that by the way."

"Otho didn't die?"

He looked up. "What?"

"Yeah he was pretty beat up and had a concussion but definitely alive."

"Oh. Huh." He went back to his darning.

After a while. "I'm sorry for making you exorcise Barbara."

"We don't have to keep repeating this."

"Yeah, but I'm not gonna let you one up me".

Lydia laughed, sourly. "Fine, I'll let you have it. But I still don't forgive you, I think."

"That's fine. You probably won't in your lifetime."

"I wouldn't say that."

"Eh, you've got what? 50, 60 years left? Not that much time, in the scheme of things."

"Pff, if that," she snorted. He looked at her over the binder and she rolled her eyes.

"You don't want to be stuck as a public servant down there. Even with my mom gone."

"I'm not gonna.

"Good. Vega would exorcise me, she hates having to deal with the kids."

"Vega?"

"Beauty queen, receptionist, green, slit wrist? It's not her real name, just her working one."

"Oh her! She seemed nice."

"Yeah, which is why she hates working with kids."

Lydia got quiet for a while. Then, "Stop for a sec, my arms are falling asleep." He obliged, and she let her hands drop into her lap, still holding onto the fabric. Sandy nuzzled her head in between Lydia and Beetlejuice.

"Guess that's enough for today, eh girl?" Beetlejuice rubbed the giant worm's head affectionately. He grabbed the tub of hair gel from under her, slathering it into his palms. "Oh, this stuff is nice. Last thing I used was made out of tree sap and fresh-from-the-pig lard."

"Ew."

"I know right? Was nice and maple-y for a good time after, though." He combed his hands through his hair till it all swooped back and up again. "Mind if I fill your least favorite sink with some hot water? Might as well while I have most of this off."

"Wait, really?"

"No sense in being clean and half naked just to put on crusty ass clothes."

"You're not half naked."

"Feel it though." He flicked his wrist and the water turned on.

"I'll go grab some stuff from upstairs, and let them know you haven't murdered me." Beetlejuice rested his head on top of Sandy's and gave her a thumbs up. After a while she traipsed back down the stairs, with laundry detergent and clothespins. "You asleep?"

"Nah, just resting. Breathing feels nice, did you know that?"

"You can do it more often, if you like. I mean no one here's gonna misgender you just because you have boobs."

"Yeah but consider this. I don't need to breathe." 

Lydia shrugged and dumped probably more detergent than needed into the sink. It started stirring itself, and his jacket, tie, suspenders, and binder all jumped in on their own accord. She started gathering her chemicals out from underneath the wettable, along with their trays. "Want to help me do this too?"

"You're gonna make me do everything around here one of these days, huh?"

"Nah, I don't mind doing this, just figured I'd ask." Lydia opened the developer, stop bath, and fixer, pouring each into their labeled trays, the chemical-vanilla of the stop bath filling the room. She closed the containers, and flipped on one of her lightstations, aligning the film before flipping the light off and grabbing some paper.

A cold hand grabbed her arm. She looked over calmly, and Beetlejuice was staring at her, glowing eyes sleepily half lidded. "Why are you all so nice to me?"

"We literally just sprayed you with a hose till you freaked out."

"Yeah, and you're still the nicest anyone's ever been to me."

"That's, uh, really sad. You're purple aren't you?"

"Probably, i'unno. Think mostly I'm- er actually, I'm not going to tell you that, grown ups only."

"Drugs?"

"Drop it."

"Are you trying to get clean?"

"I said. Drop. It."

"Fine, fine. We'll all be very proud of you, if you are, though."

"See! That's what I mean! You're all so nice! I'm a literal demon,  _ from hell _ , and here you are, little baby goth telling me you're proud of me for coke withdraw-oops"

"I knew it was drugs."

"Whatever." He let her go, smashing his face into sandworm scales.

She went about making prints. Eventually the metal of the suspenders stopped clinking against the metal of the sink, and snoring came from the demon-sandworm pile, so she pulled the emergency drain on the sink(no way in hell was she sticking her hands in that water) and went back to her exposure.

After another while, Adam came down the stairs. "Ly-" he started, before she shushed him, gesturing at the pile. "He sleeps?" He whispered. 

"I guess," she whispered back, setting the photo paper into the developer. "Dinner?"

"Delia convinced the Chinese delivery place to try us again."

"Oh nice, I just need about 10 more minutes. Want to hang up his clothes since you don't have to touch them?"

"That's what the laundry detergent was for? Are we sure this is Bee-Lawrence we're talking about?"

"I'm just as surprised as you. There's an empty drying rack by the eye wash, just put it all there." Adam nodded, and the clothing floated neatly to the rack. Lydia transferred the print to the stop bath, agitating it steadily. Adam grabbed a funnel and drained the developer back into its container, moving onto the stop bath as Lydia transferred the print to the fixer.

"He's not mad at us anymore, at least," Lydia whisper, gently irritating the fixer while watching the time.

"That's good," Adam whispered back, putting the chemicals back under the table. "I thought he was going to hurt someone for a couple seconds there."

"He's too scared of Barbara."

"Yeah."

Lydia moved the print into the water tank with the rest, dumping the fixer back into it's box. Adam led the way upstairs, and she shut off the red lights behind her, closing the door.


	3. Cookies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye is the bravest human being alive

"Beetlejuice, can you get the door?" Delia yelled from the next room over, "If it's a salesman again you can have at them!" He scrambled to the door like his life depended on it, slamming it open.

In front of him stood a little kid, in a green beret and sash over a winter coat, mouth set in a line and holding a little metal baseball bat. Behind her was a little red wagon filled with boxes. She went pale at the sight of him, white knuckled hands gripping the handle of the bat like a lifeline.

"Hi."

She took a deep breath, puffing herself up. "I'M NOT GONNA COME INSIDE AGAIN BECAUSE YOU AND YOUR GOTH FRIEND ARE VERY MEAN BUT YOU DID BUY COOKIES FROM ME LAST YEAR SO," she took another deep breath, and quieter this time, "do you want to buy some cookies?"

Delia came into the doorframe, looking from the little girl to the demon, incredulous. "Really?" She started, "I didn't mean if it was a little kid!"

"Hey, I only said hi!"

Skye held the bat closer to her as he gesticulated. "Are you gonna buy cookies?"

Delia sighed. "Yes dear, let me go get my purse. I'm sorry about whatever the mean man did." She shot him a look. He held up his hands defensively.

"So…" Skye said, after a couple of awkward seconds, "Why a h-haunted house in February?"

He crouched down to get on her level. "Because I'm a literal demon from hell whose sole purpose in death is to make life miserable." He smiled, too big, showing off his fangs. Skye bonked him on the head with her bat.

"Hey! Ow!" He said, floating back quickly. "You asked!"

"Hell isn't real and neither are demons, they're just stories people tell each other so they behave."

"Then how am I floating right now."

"Wires."

"Nah, Lyds's costume is the only ones hooked up with those and only for that scene."

"What."

"Nevermind. Also it's rude to hit people with weapons."

"Yeah? W-well it's rude to scare people when they don't ask for it."

"Kid, listen, I'm not-"

"So honey what have you got this year?" Delia inturpped, stepping in front of the demon. Skye went on her little spiel, and Delia gave her a handful of cash. "Beej, be a dear and help with the boxes?"

"Fine," he sighed, and the boxes Skye had been unloading from the wagon floated inside onto the table. The girl watched in wonder. "See? Told you. D-E-M-O-N."

"You really shouldn't go around telling people that," Delia said, crossing her arms.

"You're not my mom."

"Thank you for the compliment." She turned to Skye, "And thank you! Come back next year-" she whispered behind her hand, "-we'll make sure you don't have to deal with him."

"Hey!"

But Skye was already running off with her baseball bat back in her wagon.


	4. Meltdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This takes place two years after chapter 1

The living room was flashing neon red and sickly yellow, furniture floating around her. Lydia crossed her arms and planted her feet on what floorboards remained. "BEETLEJUICE!" She shouted, over the howling of the wind. "GET DOWN!"

"NO!" The demon shouted back, choking on a sob, eyes scrunched shut and his hands covering his ears, back against the ceiling. He nearly disappeared amongst the flashing lights, curling into himself.

"It's not over! You have to finish it!"

"It's not FAIR!" His fangs had nearly shredded his bottom lip at this point.

"Lydia!" Charles yelled. He was holding onto the chandelier, which couldn't make up its mind whether it was metal or snakes, with one hand, using the other to hold onto Delia's waist as she gripped him.

"Beej, you need to breathe! Like we practiced with Delia, in----out------" the couch flew alarmingly close to her face, followed closely by Barbara, who attempted to grab her, but her hand slipped out of her grasp as Lydia tried to pull her back.

"They're going to take him away!" He screamed, and everything warped at the edges.

"Get off the ceiling, that's not it!" She shouted back. Adam whipped by, and this time she was able to hold onto the ghost. "Listen, I have a plan but you need to catch me if I miss."

"What?" Adam asked, crouching to hold onto the floor's support beams, but Lydia had already grabbed onto the table as it flew past, clambering onto it and arranging her feet under herself, using both hands to hold onto an edge.

"You-" Lydia launched herself off the table, but got caught in the vortex. She managed to grab the demons ankle, holding fast as Adam floated them both down to what was left of the floor. "You need to calm down!" She grabbed him over both his arms, holding them down, and hugging him tightly. His breath was still hitching and she could feel a wet spot growing on her shoulder where he was leaning into her, but slowly the floorboards and furniture went back into its places, and the room stopped flashing.

The TV crackled back to life. "--I found it, all on my own--" Beetlejuice made a noise like a dying animal "--still good."

"Calm down, just watch it," Lydia said, still holding him.

"--This creature was sentenced to a life in exile. A sentence that shall henceforth served out here, on Earth, and as caretaker-"

"They...?" He pulled away, scrubbing the mess of tears and snot and blood from his face, "They let him…?"

"Just watch it!"

As the music shifted from ukulele to electric guitar the other four slowly approached. They seemed very small, there, sitting on the floor amongst bits of broken glass and shredded paper and other detritus. Lydia quickly gave them all a "shush" gesture. After a couple seconds of the credits rolling, Beetlejuice looked up, from Lydia to the rest.

"Uh. Sorry about that. It… it struck a chord, I guess…" he said, slowly, like finding the words was hard.

"Is that how strongly you feel about," Delia gestured to the six of them. He nodded, looking away.

After a couple seconds of awkward silence, Charles spoke up. "Well that's very sweet, but we should start cleaning this up." Lydia nodded, standing up and helping Beetlejuice to his feet. 

Adam snapped and the radio clicked to life, some quiet station, and Barbara floated a broom to everyone. Beetlejuice started on convincing the things that were being slow to turn back to normal that they needed to not be sentient.

  
  
  


"Oh, uh, scarecrow?" He asked, later, when they had finished cleaning up the broken glass, "When did you get taller than me?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta'd by cyberStevie again! Thanks, you're a huge help! The conversation that spawned this chapter also spawned them drawing this!
> 
> https://crystalcitadel.co.vu/post/188880833783/this-was-what-that-part-in-dead-mom-was-like
> 
> First person to guess the movie gets to suggest a prompt for the next chapter!


End file.
